Hockey skate design has been dominated by a skate boot having a molded blade holder attached thereto with the holder extending downwardly from the skate. A replaceable skate blade is received in a slot on the bottom surface of the holder. The TUUK™ blade holder, manufactured by Canstar Sports Inc., is one example of this type of system. However, similar systems are offered by Easton™, CCM™, GRAF™ and others. The molded plastic blade holder includes a front hollow pedestal portion and a rear hollow pedestal portion which extend downwardly from the sole of the boot. Each pedestal includes a securing arrangement that cooperates with the downwardly opening slot for fastening of the skate blade. The pedestals taper outwardly towards the sole of the skate boot. The blade holder is secured to the sole of the boot at a number of fixed points in the boot and fixed peripheral points in an outwardly extending flange of each pedestal. Typically the blade holder is secured by rivets which pass through circular ports in the flange of each of the pedestals or by a fastener having a diameter corresponding to the hole diameter provided in the flange. The peripheral securement of the pedestals near the periphery of the sole of the skate boot provides a required mechanical advantage in distributing the forces which are transmitted through the skate boot to the skate blade. These forces can be quite large and have a variety of different directions due to the speed and sudden changes in direction common in hockey. In addition to the high forces the skate system must endure due to the skating action, there are also forces in hockey as a result of collisions with the puck the boards and/or players or other player's equipment. Securement along the centerline of the skate blade is not sufficient.
The downward tapering of the pedestals from the sole of the boot to the skate blade helps to redirect the puck and a gap is there to give stability to each of the pedestals.
Many hockey skates are sold as a complete system with the holder and blade already attached to the hockey boot at the time of manufacture. In more expensive hockey skates, the users can select the particular hockey skate boot and then match it with a desired holder and blade. Hockey skate holders are typically secured to the skate boot in a centered and aligned orientation. Forward and rearward balance on the skates can be controlled by custom blade sharpening to changing the shape of the lower surface of the blade which contacts the ice. Some players prefer a highly curved surface which is desirable for rapid turning whereas others are more interested in speed and balance and have a large flat portion between a front curved portion and a rear curved portion.
This type of adjustment has been found by the inventor to be inadequate and does not address the widely ranging physical attributes of different hockey players. As can be appreciated hockey players can be pigeon toed, duck footed, knock kneed or bowlegged. Some of these conditions are caused or exaggerated by having flat feet or fallen arches.
The inventor has been able to significantly increase performance by providing a system that allows the individual hockey player to tailor the particular securement of the blade system to a hockey boot to meet his particular needs. These adjustments can include offsets either side of a centerline of the hockey skate and it can also include toe in or toe out adjustments as well heel in and heel out adjustments. Some approximate adjustments of the position of the blade holder can be carried out in a pro-shop however, final adjustment typically requires the actual use by the player. In addition, the system allows shimming of the holder for adjustment of the leg and foot position to compensate for physical characteristics of the user that affect alignment and/or balance.